Random thoughts from a carpetbagger living in the Great Republic of Texas

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

A Tip for Great Service

I've recently noticed a lot of articles
arguing that the U.S. should eliminate tipping in restaurants and
replace it with service charges or higher prices. While I mostly
agree with the premise, I think most of the arguments against tipping
are wrong. For instance, one common argument is that tipping does
not result in better service because you tip after the meal/service.
Well if you really want good service:

Many years ago, an uncle told me about
his trips to Las Vegas and how to live like a big shot. He would go
sit at the hotel pool and order a drink. When the server brought the
drink, he would hand her/him an extra $20 and say, "Make sure
that glass is never empty." You know who got great service? My
uncle.

In my youth, I spent one summer working
at a convention center setting up rooms/stages/banquet halls/dance
floors for various meetings, receptions and conventions. Despite the
manual labor, most of the time we sat around in the big easy
executive chairs while smoking and running away to hide when the
bosses came around. One week, a large appliance convention rolled
into town. We met the head guy for the convention, and he pointed
out how he wanted the room set-up.

Just as I started to pretend we had
another room to go set up, he pulled a wad of cash from his pocket
and handed $20 each to my co-worker and myself. "I trust you'll
be around," he said.

You know who got great service? That
appliance convention.

We pretty much stayed by that guy's
side all week and even helped unload two trucks full of dishwashers,
washers and dryers, and stoves. By the end of the convention, we had
pulled in an extra $100 each in tips which was $100 more in tips than
I made all summer. (At this time I'd like to apologize to the family
reunion that didn't have enough chairs that week. Seems like we were
too busy with the appliance convention to help you out.)

As many long-time readers may recall,
St. Pauli Girl and I owned a restaurant for six years. One day I
studied our liquor invoices and wondered why we had ordered a bottle
of Glenlivet 18 year old Scotch as we already had plenty including
the 12 year old Glenlivet. I asked our bartender who said, "Oh
yeah, someone called and requested it. Said he would come here more
often if we had it. Don't worry, you're going to love this guy."

Later that night, this man (we'll call
him Felix), came in with a rather loud, rowdy party of six. When
they got to the table, he handed the hostess $20 then went to the
bar, ordered a Glenlivet (18 year old) and tipped the bartender $20.
You know who got great service? Felix and everyone he ever came in
with.

Felix came in almost weekly always with
four to eight people. When he walked in the door, the entire front
of house staff would practically mob him to say hello, hug him and
hopefully get a little cash. Felix knew everyone's name and anyone
new on the staff made it a point to stop by his table and introduce
himself/herself.

Felix happened to be a very picky
eater. In fact, Felix didn't really order from the menu. He ordered
one of our pasta dishes with sauce we used on another dish and
"absolutely no cheese! If cheese is anywhere on the table, I'll
go crazy and never come in here again."

You know who gets to special order
their own entrees that aren't on the menu? Felix and anyone else who
throws out cash like rice at a wedding.

I never really came to love Felix as
our bartender had suggested I would. Probably because he didn't tip
me although one of his friends did buy my Guinness necktie from me for
$50. But he always made the place more lively, and the staff loved
him.

So even if the U.S. does totally get
rid of tipping someday, we'll never truly really get rid of tipping
because some people just like living large. And it's no different
than politics. You know who gets great service from an elected
official? The people that gave the politician a lot of money before
the politician won the election.

6 comments:

It's usually, if not always, those who've never worked in the hospitality industry who complain about the practice of tipping. They just don't understand and many don't understand that in the US that's where the waiters etc., earn the majority of their money.

It's not like that here in the Land of Oz, but I've been known to tip when I've had good service (as did my ex when we were together. After all, for a few years he managed a bar-restaurant in New York City so it was very familiar to him).

I tipped a young lad the other day for topping up the air in my tyres for me. He didn't have to do it, but my hip was acting up so I asked if he could do it for me, in between his serving other customers in the gas station...so for his very pleasant attitude and his willingness to help, I tipped him. He refused to take it at first, but I was more insistent than he was. I'm older, so I've had more practice at being insistent! :)

Yeah, I think the big issue is the lower end restaurants/diners where even with tips, servers struggle to make minimum wage. People also complain about restaurants automatically charging gratuity for large groups. But it wasn't until we owned the restaurant I realized how badly servers get screwed on large groups if you don't auto-gratuity. So many people think they don't have to tip as much because it's a big group or they assume someone else in the group will tip more.

Conversely to my post, I had another uncle who was a terrible tipper. Apparently, he would always leave like a dollar or two. My dad would wait until everyone left then add to the tip to make it fair.

I don't know if you've ever seen one of Richard Dreyfus's first movies called "The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz" but there's a terrific scene where teenage Duddy is working at a resort hotel one summer in the 1950s. A rich guy checks in, shows Duddy a $100 bill (big bucks in those days), tears it in half, gives one half to Duddy and says if he gives him good service during his stay, he'll get the second half when he leaves. So of course Duddy waits on him hand and foot!

I have not seen that. I'm not sure my cynical self would have been inspired by someone tearing a bill in half. But when I think back to my time at the convention center, back then I'm sure I would have done the same as Duddy. Thanks for the comment!

About Me

I live in a small town in Texas. I am the real America. I wasn't born in the republic which means I'm not really Texan. I do have a pickup truck but since it's a Nissan, I'm still not considered Texan. I only drive it when no one is looking. I'm a man without a country and a man without a car. I'm an entrepreneur but not a good one as I recently had to close down the family restaurant. But that makes me an economic expert. I can seriously blame the restaurant's closing on Obama, Cheney, NAFTA, Cash for Clunkers, TARP and even Bernie Madoff who never spent millions in my restaurant. Not even a dime.